Podcast Reflection

 

This podcast left me shocked, sad, and very angry. I was appalled by the comments the parents at the board meeting were making. Things like: “So I'm hoping that their discipline records come with them, like their health records come with them.” And even “We are talking about violent behavior that is coming in with my first-grader, my third-grader, and my middle schooler that I'm very worried about.” And the fact that after these comments were made, huge waves of applause followed?! Absolutely horrifying. The worst part is, parents and children from Normandy like Nedra and Mah’Ria had to sit in terrifying silence as these blatantly racist comments were being made about them. At one point, Mah’Ria said she wanted to say something to defend herself, but the overwhelmingly negative responses made her feel scared to even voice her opinion. Something else that shocked me was the color blindness from these events that took place not even 10 years ago. A woman proudly declares, “This is not a race issue. This is a commitment to education issue.” It makes me so sad that these horrible things were said and done just to keep a different race of kids from going to a school that was actually up to state standards. The opportunities and hope this new school brought to them was endless and so was the desperation to get out of a district like Normandy. And this exact same situation can be seen all over the country, and particularly near us in Detroit, where mostly black populated schools are not receiving the proper education and resources they deserve. Education, housing discrimination, health issues, and poverty are all intertwined problems that won’t improve unless we make the first steps to integrate our communities. 





Comments

  1. Riley LennonDecember 12, 2021 at 5:18 PM

    I agree with everything you said in this blog! The part of the podcast that talked about the board meeting really shocked me too. I didn't think about this in terms of color blindness, but i agree with that! I think the things said in the podcast really explain why we need to implement change in our community ASAP!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Leah OstrowskiDecember 12, 2021 at 5:56 PM

    I also found the parent’s comments shocking, especially since the fact that parents from both schools were listening into the conversations. It’s scary how they blatantly expressed their color blindness as well. The connection you made to Detroit and the way all of these problems are intertwined was a great way to express the podcast’s overall argument about integration.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Charlotte WorrelDecember 12, 2021 at 8:27 PM

    I completely agree with what you said about the parents at Francis Howell’s comments about the children from Normandy. Hearing their subtly racist remarks that were completely accepted by the group made me disgusted, especially considering how recently these events occurred. I really like what you said about how things like poverty and health issues are all connected, meaning you can’t separate them the way the parent’s were trying to.

    ReplyDelete

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